ABSTRACT
Regional organizations represent a dynamic form of international organization. These entities have grown from several respected organizations to a plethora of large and small geographic groupings that are geared toward general or specific focuses. They exert significant influence well beyond their geographic regions, often have non-regional members, and frequently have overlapping memberships. Regional organizations also tend to foster concepts of future integration and the European Union has accomplished this to the point that it is more correct to refer to it as a supranational organization. All this over the course of less than a century of international law change and adaptation which has accommodated – and indeed facilitated – the rise of regional organizations.
